14 DAY TRIAL // World of Darkness is one of the MMO projects that CCP, the Nordic developer best known for EVE Online, have long thought about and have not pushed in development and one of the leading developers working on the game has said that one of the biggest inspirations for their project is the old cult classic Vampire: The Masquerade.
Chris McDonough, who is the producer working on World of Darkness, says that his vision of the MMO is influenced by the pen and paper system which was also behind Vampire: The Masquerade, because it allows players to develop their own characters and is not focused on very specific heroes with a limited skillset.
The Vampire: The Masquerade video game had two installments, the first called Redemption and an expansion called Bloodlines, and focused on vampires living in a modern world setting, allowing the player to choose from a variety of archetypes and skills while unraveling a cast story which involved rival vampire clans and an ancient threat.
The game was first launched in 2000, developed by Nihilistic Software and published by Activision, and was rather coldly received by the wider public because the game was pretty buggy and dense at times.
Bloodlines was out in 2004, created by Troika Games, and the game failed to sell enough to save the company from closing down just as it was starting work on a new post apocalyptic role playing game project.
For the upcoming World of Darkness CCP is planning to have a focus on interaction between players, who will be able to develop their own stories, in a manner similar to what we are already seeing in EVE Online.
CCP says that it has a full team working on its next MMO, although there is no release window confirmed for the moment.
World of Darkness will focus on vampire clans and the political rivalry that developers between them and the source material could also lead to the inclusion of werewolves, changelings and mage users.